Lawmakers aim to thwart Iraq's leader

New York Times :
January 26, 2013

BAGHDAD — In the bloody aftermath of street protests that turned violent Friday in Fallujah, Iraq's Parliament on Saturday passed legislation intended to prevent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from seeking a third term.

The parliamentary move, the latest threat to al-Maliki's hold on power, reflected rising anger among rivals over his rule, but it appeared unlikely that the measure, which would need to be approved by Iraq's president, would ever go into effect.

Al-Maliki's coalition in Parliament boycotted the vote, and an official close to the prime minister called it unconstitutional and vowed to appeal to the federal courts, which on paper are independent but in practice bend to al-Maliki's will.

Sami al-Askari, a lawmaker from al-Maliki's coalition, said the legislation would “not see the light of day” because, he said, it is unconstitutional.

“We are not worried about the vote on this law,” al-Askari said.

The vote came after weeks of protests in Sunni-dominated Anbar province resulted in violence Friday, when the Shiite-led government's security forces opened fire, leaving at least seven protesters in Fallujah dead.

Dueling scenes that played out Saturday — the hundreds of mourners who hoisted the coffins of dead protesters in the streets of Fallujah and the lawmakers in Baghdad who cast votes in an attempt to limit the power of the prime minister — encapsulated the prevailing features of Iraqi public life after the long and costly American war: sectarianism, violence and political dysfunction.

Both events nudged Iraq further along the path of political instability before provincial elections in April, which will be the first test of Iraq's fragile democracy at the voting booth since the departure of U.S. forces at the end of 2011.

On Saturday, a curfew that had gone into effect Friday in Fallujah was lifted, and, as the army withdrew from the city, one soldier was killed by sniper fire and another was wounded, according to a security official in Anbar. As mourners in Fallujah shouted “The blood of our people will not be lost in vain,” protesters set fire to an army checkpoint.

During Friday's clashes, two soldiers were killed, and later three off-duty soldiers were kidnapped by gunmen and remained missing Saturday, according to the Associated Press.